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International Attendees

Applying for a Visa

The U.S. has updated its visa policies to increase security for citizens and visitors, so the process of applying for your visa may have changed from the last time you applied or may take longer. If you have any difficulty obtaining a visa for the meeting, please report your case to the U.S. Department of State and specifically mention the Controlled Release Society Annual Meeting. Please visit http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en.html for official information.

If you need to apply for a temporary non-immigrant visa to attend the CRS Annual Meeting, you are advised to apply for your visa as soon as possible and not later than 3-4 months in advance. All applicants must be able to qualify for a visa on their own merits. The society cannot intervene with embassies in other countries on behalf of any meeting participants. You may submit the CRS letter of invitation along with your visa application to verify the name, dates, location, and purpose of the CRS Annual Meeting. You may also take your registration confirmation paperwork to your visa interview. However, CRS will not be able to provide additional visa support nor will CRS call or generate personal letters to the embassy or consulate.

Visa Wait Times

The Department of State encourages you to apply for your visa as soon as possible. The U.S. government is working to expedite visa processing, however visas can take up to three months to obtain so we encourage you to plan ahead to avoid any delays. Some consulates may have backlogs in scheduling visa interviews so applicants should contact the consulate to find out how long the wait is for an interview. Visa wait times are available at: http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en.html.

Letter of Invitation

Letters of Invitation are available to attendees after they have registered for the meeting and paid the registration fee. Please contact Janine Salabritas at jsalabritas@controlledreleasesociety.org if you have any questions.